Instant Reaction: Myles Straw homers twice in Blue Jays’ 14-2 victory over Rangers

The Rangers got a run back in the top of the third, as Jake Burger hit an RBI single. That rally effort was short-lived, as Straw hit his second home run of the game, matching his career-high in home runs. Straw’s two home runs in this game make up 20% of his career home runs.

With the game blown open, the Blue Jays continued to add runs. In the bottom of the fifth, Daulton Varsho hit his 13th home run of the season. For what it’s worth, Varsho has only had 144 plate appearances all season. Incredible. That same inning, Davis Schneider walked with the bases loaded.

Moving to the bottom of the seventh, Schneider once again drove in a run, this time with a three-run home run off former Blue Jay Rowdy Tellez, giving the Jays a 14-1 lead. With Tyler Heineman pitching in the top of the ninth, the Rangers got within 12 thanks to a Jake Burger RBI single.

Takeaways…

This was Myles Straw’s best game of his career without a doubt. Coming into this game, Straw only had eight home runs in his career and had never had a multi-home run day. With two swings of the bat, he increased his home runs to 10 and matched his career-high of four in a season. He also went 4-5 with five RBIs. That’s starting to look like a great trade, especially since the Blue Jays finally used the bonus pool money.

Two other players, Daulton Varsho and Davis Schneider, had three hits in this game, along with a home run. Varsho is hitting a home run every 11 plate appearances, and Schneider continues to be a revelation for this team. Schneider also made another diving catch to save a run.

The Jays finished with 18 hits in this game. Bo Bichette and Ernie Clement each had two hits, while George Springer, Ty France, Andrés Giménez, and Nathan Lukes all had one hit.

Eric Lauer made the start, going 5+ innings with four hits allowed, one earned run, three walks, and four strikeouts. It wasn’t a perfect game for the southpaw, but he did enough to earn the win. Tommy Nance pitched two innings, striking out four, and Seranthony Domínguez walked a batter in his scoreless inning of work.

It’s pretty bad when a winning team needs to use a position player to pitch, but that was the case on Saturday. Catcher Tyler Heineman allowed an earned run in his inning of work.

The Jays will look for their 10th sweep of the season on Sunday, with José Berríos getting the start against the Rangers. It’s a 1:37 PM ET start time.